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N.PETERS, FHOTQLITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

A VNflirnp STATES 'PATENT OFFICE.

HEINR. VOELTER,YOF FEIDENHEIM, GERMANY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 21,161, dated August10, 1858.

To 1f/ZZ` whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HEINR. VOELTER, of the iirm of Henry Voelters Sons,of the city of Feidenheim, in the Kingdom of Wrtemberg,

Germany, have invented a new and most useful machine for producing andassorting pulp 'from wood or Woody fibers for the purpose of making itinto paper, pasteboard, papiermach, and similar paper-like fabrics, apatent having been granted to me therefor in the Kingdom of Viirtemberg,Germany, a sworn and certified copy of which being annexed to thisapplication; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention and of the operation andconstruction of the same, with a due reference to the accompanying modeland duplicate drawings.

The principle and the elements of my invention as will be hereinafterexhibited have nothing in common with any known or used machinery orapparatus for preparing and asserting wood pulp except the employment ofa circular and rotating mill or grindstone as a reducing agent, and eventhis method of' obtaining the liber of wood by employing such a stonecaused to revolve and made to act upon said material, and by directingat the same time a current of water to the stone before its contact withthe material to be reduced, belongs to the invention and has beenpatented by my brother, Christian Voelter, of the firm Henry VoeltersSons, in various coun-v tries of Europe; in France as early as 1847,patent dated Aprilll, and published in the 10th volume of the officialpatent reports of France for the year 1852. I am further aware that forthis very same or essentially the same invention a patent has been takenout in Great Britain by R. A. Brooman, of London,England,l853,(seeRepertoryofPatent Inventions, May, 1856, page 110, andMechanics Magazine, 1856, No. 1613,) for a process of reducing blocks ofwood to pulp, and for the purpose of making it into paper by means ofmechanical agents consisting of a millstone or cylinder acting uponpieces of wood held in a frame always in the direction of the length orgrain of the fibers and parallel thereto. In connection with this heclaims v theV particular4 arrangement of the machine employed forreducing the wood, and alsod'escribes the method of assorting orseparating the pulp after leaving thestone by employing a current ofwater and a series of shaking frames or boards covered with sieves ofdifferent gages.

It may here be proper to state that at the time a patent was applied forin France for the reducing machinery by my brother Christian thislast-mentioned separating apparatus had already been in use in ourestablishment. i

Owing to its imperfect operations, however, and the constant manualassistance it required, I did not deem it worth patenting.

Brooman, in his patent for the reducing process, distinctly describesand claims that theV wood to be reduced be placed on the stone with itsfibers running in the same direction as that in which the stonerevolves, and considers this arrangement absolutely essential. Nowexperiments and experience have shown that in order to carry out thisplan not only an enormous amount ot' power is consumed by keeping up theproper speed of the revolving stone, since the blocks to be reduced, andwhen so located, gradually become so in any regular brakes by partakingmore and more of the circular grinding-surface, but, what is still worseand most objectionable, the grinding by degrees takes place in across-grained direction, thereby destroying the length of the fibers andgrnding'up the iilaments completely. `On the other side a most importantand decidedly novel feature is introduced by constructing and arranging'the reducing apparatus in such a manner as to admit, first, cfa portionof the block with its bers parallel tothe axis of the revolving stone,and, second, owing to this very position to be able to locate a numberof them behind each other, so aSto cause the fibers when separated fromthe iyfrst block of woodto pass again under the grindi'g-'surfaceof thesecond block and along with the iibers of the latter to andunder thethird, fourth, fifth, and sixth one, and so on. The greatest part ot'the fibers having thus been several times in contact with thegrinding-stone leave it as pulp ofa better and much more uniformquality. The separation may be carriedon to any extent, and the betterand very best sorts of paper can be produced. i. p The nature of myinvention for making and assorting wood pulp, generally speaking,therefore consists, first, in the particular mode of applying orlocating blocks of Wood upon the grinding-surface of a circular androtating millstone forthe purpose of separating the iibers from the Woodand reducing them to pulp-that is to say, in placing a number of suchblocks in or above the upper right orleft hand quarter of the saidstone, as it may revolve, behind each other and with their fibersrunning parallel to the axis of the stone, the blocks to be confinedwithin stationary boxes and held in their respective position during thegrinding process by a strong and suitable framing. all of which, incombination with the cmploymentof aself-actingfeedingapparatus,

arranged to be operated by a positive mechanism and by the revolvingstone itself, said feed to be so constructed that in case of need itsaction is automatically intercepted at any moment or diminished to anydegree when the momentary condition of the grinding-surfaces of theblocks should demand it, rendering thereby the reducing machinery moreperfect and susceptible of yielding and adapting itselfto the conditionof the material and to retain the tilaments of the wood after thereducing process; second, in the novel manner of assorting or separatingthe pulpby employing for this purposeand in close connection with thereducing device a series of holloW and' rotating cylinders or reelscovered with sieves of various gages, together with a number of rollersor receivers made to bear upon the circumference of said cylinders andrevolving therefore in opposite directions, in combination with a steadyland subtile flow of ater caused to spread evenly over theirVsurfaces,.said cylinders to be placed within l through the sieves andthe interior of the cylinder and into the conducting-channels upon thesurface of the following liner one, while the coarser fibers, -adheringto the outer surface, are taken off by the receiving-rollers. Theseparated and finer particles may also be received and carried away atonce and separat-ely through au extra channel placed at a slopewithinthe first rotating cylinder; or the pulp may not be caused to iiowdirectly upon the cylinder, but merely in its channel or trough. Themass will there be constantly agitated by the rotation of the cylinder,thev tendency of the water to pass through the sieves carrying again thefiner particles along, while'adhesion will cause the coarser ones tocollect upon the outside, ready to be taken up by the rollers and throwninto a separate partition, the assorting apparatus fulllingtherebythesecond condition-viz.,producingpaper from Wood economicallyand Without manual assistance. Y

To enable the Oftice fully to understand the precise operation of themachine, as well as others skilled in the art to make and use myinvention, I will now proceed to describe its detailed construction andoperation, reference being had to :the annexed drawings, making a partof this specification.

Figure 1 represents an elevation with partial sections and with aportion of the outer casings removed so as to fully exhibit the variousprocesses of grinding and assorting. Fig. 2 gives a ground View of themachine with the feed-motion detached therefrom and the water-channels,conducting-pipes, and receiving-boxes cut open. Figs. 3, 4, and 5represent details of the iron frame-work encircling the upper part ofthe stone, as seen in Fig. 1. They also give top views of the workingparts of the feed-motion and showing the manner of feeding up itself.

A Ain Figs. l, 2, and 5 indicate the circular mill or grind stone, ofanysuitable width and diameter, employed for reducing the blocks. It isfixed in a vertical position on a shaft turning in suitable bearings andmounted upon or between the strong wooden framing B B, the sides of saidframing being tightly planked up to form a water-proof casing D D forthe stone to revolve in. It receives a rotary motion at the rate of onehundred and twenty to two hundred and fifty revolutions per minute,according to size and diameter, from the main pulley C, Fig. 2, and adriving-belt connecting with the line-shaft or engine. The under partofcasing or box D D is provided with-'an outlet E for the ground pulp andwateifiutroduced by the pipe F for the purpose lofwetting the stone and'mixing with the pulp during grinding.

to receive the feeding apparatus and the auxiliary machinery connectedtherewith. They are strongly combined and Vfirmly bolted to the mainframing B by means of the iron bed- `plate and standard I-l l-I, whiletheir vertical and parallel position is maintained by iron braces ortraverses I I, in Fig. 6, the latter forming in the same time thesupport of the driving machinery actuating the feed of the blocks.Additional connection between the arches G G and the outer segments G G'are established by the 'employment of wroughtiron columns or rods`K K K,bolted at proper distances firmly between them, keeping the arches-in aproper rela-tion to each other and rendering the Whole a stiff andAsubstantial structure. The inner arches G G, encircling the stone oneach side, form a water-tight joint with the casing D, While theirinside facesare lined with the wooden segments L i L, Fig. 5, slightlylapping over the edges of the stone, so as to prevent the fibers whenseparated, or any other foreign substance,

'f rom passing between the casin g and the stone and causing friction oraccident.

M M M are brackets, cast at suitable divisions upon the outer rims ofthe two arches G G. They are made to receive the plates N N, the lattertting closely between G G and i forming thereby the bottom and top orthe partitions of regular and separate boxes, which, bein g'locatedbehind each other, serve as recipients for the blocks to be reduced. lItis obvious that any number of such boxes indicated in Fig. l-that is tosay, not much over the right or left hand upper quarter of the stone,according to the direction of its rotation. It is also most importantthat it should always revolve against the boxes containing the wood andin the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l.

O O in Figs. l and 5 represent the blocks of wood when in contact withthe stone for the purpose of being reduced. The wood of course is firstcut. and split into pieces of suitable length and then prepared for useby freeing it from bark, knots, and adhering foreign matters. That mostany kind of wood can be vmade use of, -according to quality and color ofthe paper to be produced, needl hardly be said.

It now remains to explain the automatic and self-intercepting action ofthe feed-motion. From a View at Figs. l aud 5 will be perceived that theblocks are acted or pressed upon by the pieces P P, so as to distributea regular pressure on the whole surface of the blocks. These pieces P Pare bolted firmly to the iron press-platens Q Q, and the latterterminate in the spindles or feed-screws R R R, extending outward andpassing through the centers of the traverses I I. Thus by pulling orpushing the spindles R R R out and in, or by raising and lowering thesame, the platens Q Q, with their soles P P, are brought to act upon theblocks O O, the supporting-columns K K K'by doing so serving in the sametime as guide-rods to keep the said'platens Q Qand spindles R R in arectilinear direction a-nd at right angles with the blocks, as shown inFig. 3. Now, around the circumference ofthe outer framing G G arelocated a number ot cross-shafts S S S, having their stationary bearingsfirmly secured upon the rims of said framing and carrying on theirextremities the driving-pulleys T T T, a positive and rotary motionbeing trans- Initted to `them in the following manner, viz: A smalldriving-pulley U is keyed upon V the outer end of the grindstone-shaftto con- `vey a suitable'motion to the counter-shaft V by means of thelarger pulley U. This shaft V maybe set somewhere upon the main framingB B, or attached thereto in any position fit to again convey motion, bya band to the uppermost and first cross-shaft S by aid of thecone-pulleys W W"` Wand W W W', whereby the speed of S and subsequentlyof 'shaft-s S S S can be varied at pleasure by conjoining these shaftsvwith the first one S', in the man ner shown at Fig. 1-viz.,byrunning theendless band X from pulley T alternately above or below the rims of thepulleys T T T of shafts S S S, motion being so conveyed to the same bythe reducing-agent itself, it is evident that the shafts will at anymoment partake of the least changes of its velocity,

and if they are made to actuate the feed control the same accordingly.To accomplish this a worm Y is placed and secured upon each of theshafts S S S, Fig. 4, to gear with and give a slow motion to theworm-wheels Y Y.' The traverses I I I, as alreadysaid, form the supportand the stationary bearings for the wheels by letting their hubs passthrough the center of the traverses in such a manner as to admit thewheels to turn freely upon them. To keep the wheels in their properposition Vto the worms and within their bearings a strong collar isshrunk ou or otherwise fastened to the projecting ends of the hubs,forming a solid shoulder to bear against and preventing thereby thewheels from rising when power is applied. The hubs of wheels Y Y Y arebored out sufficiently large to receive the feed-screws or spindles R RR, and to allow them to slide freely through and over the threads of thespindles, and to admit of raising or lowering by taking hold of theirhandles R R.

Z and Z Z Z in Figs. l and 5 exhibitapair of iron tongs provided withspring and catch to readily open and close when required. One of thesetongs is firmly secured and bolted to the upper face of each wheel Y Y',partakiug thereby of their rotary motion. The inner portions of thesemicircular jaws of the tongs contain screw-threads matching `vwiththose of the feed-screws and the jaws by encircliugthe screwswhilepassing through the traverses and the hubs of wheels Y Y form thus thetwo halves of a nut. It is clear that by closing the tongs and givingmotion to wheels Y Y they-that is to say, the nut itself-will revolve,and being kept within its bearing will necessarily act upon and urgedown the feed-screws together with the platens Q Q, and this inproportionto the velocity given to the worm-shafts S S. By simplyopening the tongs the screw is readily disengaged. It may then be pulledback and made ready again to descend. To :facilitate this drawing Vbackor rather raising of the uppermost screws, being not within the reach ofthe attending workman, little band-wheels l and 2, Figs. 'l and 6,mounted on small crossshafts, have been provided for hoisting up thespindles by aid of a rope and drum, or a similar lifting device.

An arrangement of the foregoing description, when combined andconstructed as proposed, would constitute an automatic feeding apparatuspossessed with a reliable motion. Now,in` order to render it at the sametime self-intercepting, for the purposes already stated, the followingarrangement has been resorted to: The pulleys T T are not keyed fastupon the worm-shafts S S S, but are made to run loosely upon them. Theyare facing, however, the disks or ratchet-wheels a a, which arefixeddupon `the shafts, as shown in Fig. l, where, for the sake of abetter understanding, two of these shafts are represented turned over,thereby showing the ratchets and pulleys in front. The pulleys carry thesteel springs h b, pressing vigorously upon the ratchet-wheels, and witha tension so adjusted as to move along the shafts S S S and consequentlytooperate the feed when the machin-- ery is in an ordinary and regularstate of working, but letting loose instantly, inter- 'cepting theaction of the feed,when an undue friction takes place or a diminishedpressure upon the blocks is momentarily required. Should one or theother of the blocks be reduced or ground up sooner than the attendingworkman might expect it, this same contrivance will indicate the fact bya noise sufficiently distinct to call his immediat-e attention andprevent the machinery fromserious breakage which inevitably would occurby working up the spindles and platens against the framing G G andfarther than the guiderods K K will permit.

The machinery, so as described, is fully self-acting. It requires nofurtherassistance but to supply the boxes with Afresh material when oneor the other of the blocks is done. Nor does this manipulation demand aminutes delay or the stopping of the machine, as it simply consists invthe opening of the nut or tongs Z, the pulling back of screws R R forthe introduction of the material, and the reclosing of Z, when feedingup is resumed and continued without further assistance.

Having now ininutely described the reducing machinery, I will proceed toexplain the second part of my invention so integrally combined with thefirst one, Viz., the novel device proposed for asserting the fibers whenseparated from the wood.

E E E, in Fig. 1, as already stated, is an outlet and channel of thecasing D D for the purpose of leading or carrying the watery pulp to thecylinders. vIt first passes from E E E into the shaking frame c c,covered with sieves of the coarsest gages and constructed on whatistermed Donkins plan. This is an old and well-known contrivance. Theshaking or rolling motion naturally pertaining to its construction aswell as the rotary motion of the succeeding and separating cylinders isconveyed by one and the same counter-shaft V, by aid of the pulleys CZand e and the pulleysfg q g in Fig. 2.

The shaking frame c c in my invention serves only to throw out andseparate extraneous substances and such fibers as are unfit forpaper-making. In most cases, however,

I would suggest the employment of a large cylinder in its stead of aconstruction similar to that of the asserting-cylinders hereinafterdescribed. The mode of assorting the pulp after leaving the frame c c isvery simple and has in its nature already been Y described. I willtherefore merely refer to the details of the apparatus as represented inthe drawings and in Figs. l and 2.

71.71, h2 indicate the rotating cylinders. V'Their entire surfaces arecovered with sieves of gradually-increasing fneness, say from sixteen upto two thousand meshes per square inch. lt is very essential for thegood working order of the cylinders that the sieves should be verycarefully and accurately put on. To facilitate this their circumferencesshould be provided with a sufficient number of strips y y y runningthroughout the-length of the cylinders, as shown at h, Fig. 2, for thesieves to fasten or screw to, as the penetrability of the sieves isthereby greatly enhanced. Rollers instead of lstrips turning instationary bearings may also be employed to support the sieves. The samemight then revolve or rotate upon them and independently from the shaftsof the cylinders. The last cylinder h2 is covered with sieves ofthefinestgage. It is called the pulpcatcher, in as far as it terminates theoperating process by taking up or catching within itself the finestparticles of the pulp. The waste water is then allowed to flo-w offentirely through the channel t t and the pipe w. As the nature of myasserting process principally consists in the employment of revolvingcylinders for the purpose of dividing the y tion of the same, while thecoarser ones arescraped o from without-it is evident that the onlycommunication existing between the cylinders succeeding each other injthe separation is established by the meshes of the sieves they arecovered with, and that the water and watery pulp contained, forinstance, in the trough and around the exterior of the first cylindercan only reach the following finer one by passingfthrough the siftingenvelopment of the former. The cylinders h h h2 are therefore tightlyclosed up on one end, while the other and open" one of cylinder hcommunicates with the conducting-pipe and distributing-trough of thefollowing one h', and so on. A glance at the elevation,Fig.l, and theground view, Fig. 2, will illustrate this.

i' i t' is the first receiving-trough in which the cylinder h revolves.The pulp and Water are carried into it after leaving the frame cc andafter having passed through the channel c c in the direction of thearrow at Fig. 2. To prevent sand or particles of stone from getting intothe trough t' t' and upon the cylindersfthe passage through thepartition c is somewhat raised-say one inch or so. This forms asort of aWeir for the mass to flow over and to cause the heavy and hardsubstances to settle there. It is most essential that the iiow of waterand pulp be as uniform as possible and that the sheet ot' the liquidtouching the cylinders and when spreading over their surfaces be kept inthe mostperfect state of tranquility. To achieve this, partitions t" K pare inserted in the troughs and reservoirs 2, K, and p, so as toseparate the body of water at the surface and allow it to communicate,but underneath the partitions and at the lowest point of the sheet.

The mode of operating by letting the pulp iiow into the surroundingtrough instead of leading it directly upon the rotating cylinder, isillustrated in Fig. lof the drawings at the first cylinder 7L and itstrough z' t'. The mass there is slightlyagitated by the rotation of theformer and the coarser4 fibers adhering without are taken up by thetouching roller and separated, while the Water and the finer particlesare entering the sieves. This finer pulp with the water next reaches thereceiving box or reservoir R R by aid of the conducting-pipescommunicating with the interior of cylinder h. It ist-hen caused, owingto the lower position of box R, to ow by its own gravity evenly` andgently over the horizontal board Z Z and upon the surface of cylinder h.The separation here is continued in the other way set forth-viz., byletting the pulp spread directly over and upon the sieves of h', thecoarser fibers being again taken up and separated by the rollerstouching upon the cylinders. i2 m rin Figs. l and 2 show these rollers.They are made of Wood carefully clothed with flannel, rubber, or similarsoft substance. There may also be employed one, two, or more of suchrollers in contact with each cylinder, according to its size and workingcapacity.

Straight bars running closely' along the surface of the rollers, as seenat m and r in Figs. 1 and 2, serve to scrape off and deliver from therollers the separated fibers received from the cylinders and to depositthem according to their respective iineness in the different boxes n n's s provided therefor. The still finer pulp having penetrated the meshesof cylinder h', again passes through -it and into the conducting-channelo o, from thence to the next receiving-box p p, and for the reasons setforth it is once more compelled to descend or dow over the plane q qupon the cylinder or pulp-catcher h2, which, in the drawings, terminatesthe separating process. The entrance into this cylinder bythe finest andvery best portion of the pulp takes place precisely the same way, asbefore stated, and the outside separation is again effected by therollers fr fr and the bars r r. To more readily collect the finest pulpin `the cylinder h2, a series of small buckets may be placed and securedwithin in such a manner as to allow the waste water to escape freelythrough the channel t t. The trough t i of cylinder h is of asemicircular shape, to prevent the fibers from collecting or settling atthe bottom or in the sharp corners, insuring thereby the constant takingup of the mass by the rotation of the cylinder;

- It is hardly necessary to remark that the pulp before reaching thislast cylinder may pass one or two more intermediate sieves or cylindersof increasing minuteness. It will then only be necessary to give themand their surrounding troughs 'L' t" t the proper degree of declivity tosecure an easy and gentle descent of the pulp. By a careful perusal ofthis specification, drawings, and model it will ycertainly be admittedthat the problem of utilizingwood for paper-making extensively has beenpractically solved by my invention, and that the use and assistance ofmy self-acting machinery will make it an object to employ wood or woodyfibers as a substitute for rags. It may, lastly, be proper to add thatin order to conform as far as possible in the present case to the ruleof the Office as to size of models the rotating cylinders here had to beplaced alongside ofthe grindstone-frame,while they are put ahead and ina more natural position in the accompanying drawings.

a' z indicate the cone-pulleys in Fig. 2 to transmit motion to thecylinders when they are placed as shown in the model.

Having now fully explained my invention in all its parts, I wish it tobe understood that I make no claim in this application as to theoriginality of invention of using wood-pulp for paper-making, althoughit might be shown that this even emanated from me; nor do I l claim,broadly, the employment of mechanical agents in combination with wateror other suitable liquids for the purpose of separating and obtainingthe fibers of Wood. I also dis` claim the Various parts and mechanicaldevices constituting my machine when separately considered and when notcombined as herein set forth; but

Vthat I do claim as new in manufacturing paper from Wood, and desire tohave secured to me by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s-

1. The particular arrangement, construction, and combination of themachinery or the mechanical expedients employed, as herein specified,for reducing blocks of wood or producing wood-pulp by feeding them upautomatically to a rotating grind or mill stone, in connection with thepeculiar manner of applying or locating said blocks upon thecircumference of the stone or on a portion of its 6 *i A21,161' y icircumference by holding them behind each ervoi'rs, all made to operateas set forth, and other in a position and direction essentially for thepurpose of assorting the fibers when the same as described and hereinset forth. separated from the Wood in the modes herein 2. The employmentand the combination of described, rendering the pulp I it to be formed:t series of perforated and rotating cylinders into paper of diierentqualities.

with the reducing expedient when constructed HEIN R. VOELTER. andconnected between themselves in the Witnesses: Y manner herein specifiedby surrounding BAPT. BEAUBEIN,

troughs and communicatingchannels or res- AUGUST WAGNER.

